Nothing To Lose
by poprika
Summary: Oneshot. Being different can lead to many things. Pain, bullying, even death. Ray finds this out when he meets Acadia, who has been bullied all her life. How far does the pain go? Is it too late to save her?


Taiy-Chan: Yes! Another one-shot! I thought this one up while I was trying to get to sleep. I had Billy Talent's song Nothing to Lose stuck in my head and I just started playing around with ideas that go with the song! So, obviously, this fic is made after the song, Nothing to Lose.

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade or Billy Talent's song, Nothing to Lose, which is what this story is made after.

Taiy-Chan: Isn't it ironic that all of my long stories are humorous and all of my one-shots are sad?

* * *

Nothing to Lose

"Would everyone please welcome Ray Kon." The teacher said as Ray stepped into the classroom.

Ray had been asked to do a presentation about the Chinese history to a grade 7 class. Since he was famous and Chinese they thought that it might have a bigger impact on the children.

Right when Ray walked into the classroom, the kids exploded with cheers and claps, but that's not what he noticed. Instantly, someone caught his eye.

It was a girl, her face hidden by the thick hood of her black, baggy sweater. You could just see her shoulder length purple hair from under the hood. She seemed, different. And it was obvious that she had no friends. Ray noticed the boy beside her poke her and tease her, causing the girl to shrink away from him.

"It's an honor to be here." Ray started, finally taking his eyes of the girl. "I was actually kinda surprised when your teacher asked me to give a presentation about Chinese history." he said, smiling.

"Why don't you tel them about yourself?" the teacher asked.

"Alright. You all know my name already. I'm fifteen years old and I would be a grade 10 if I wasn't on the Bladebreakers. I grew up in China in a remote village in the mountains. I have other hobbies other than beyblading, I cook, do martial arts and can play the guitar." Ray finished.

The teacher smiled kindly.

"Thank you Ray. I'm sorry, but I have a meeting to attend, do you think you can handle them?" she asked.

Ray nodded.

"I'll be fine. They seem like a good class."

"Good." the teacher turned to her class. "I want all of you to treat Ray with respect. He is our guest and we are very lucky to have him here today." she then turned back to Ray.

"Thank you again."

"No problem."

After the teacher left, a girl raised her hand.

"Excuse me Ray," she said. "But are there lots of hot guys like you in China?" the girls giggled and the boys rolled their eyes.

Ray laughed.

"I wouldn't know. Anyways, let's begin."

Throughout most of his lecture, Ray listened carefully to the class as he spoke. With his sensitive hearing, Ray could pick up the chatter and where it was coming from easily. Soon, the class was silent, having given up trying to talk. So it was easy for him to pick up the sick voice of the boy from the back.

"Hey Acadia. Do you always have to write in that stupid notebook of yours? Pay attention." the boy said, his voice already getting to Ray's nerves.

The hooded girl didn't respond.

"Hey stupid! Are you deaf? Something wrong with your pointy ears?"

"Don't talk to me, Damien" the girl whispered. The boy's hand instantly shot up.

"Ray!" he shouted, drawing the whole class's attention to him. He grinned at the attention and continued. "Acadia told me to shut up!"

The class stared at him before turning to Ray, wondering what his reaction would be.

Ray's eyes narrowed.

"Don't lie to me, Damien." he said calmly.

Damien stared at the neko-jin.

"What are you talking about? She told me to be quiet!" he turned to his peers sitting around him. "Didn't you hear her?" the kids shrugged.

"I thought she told you to shut up. Now you're changing your story." Ray said, his pupils slitting.

"I...uh..." Damien stuttered.

"You were harassing her, don't think I can't hear you just because you're in the back."

"I don't know what the big deal is, she's a freak anyways!" Damien protested. The class watched on in awe. "Look!" Damien suddenly reached over and yanked Acadia's hood off. The class gasped.

Acadia's purple hair was layered and framed her face. Her eyes were silver and you could just see a pointed ear through her hair. Acadia looked down.

'_I was right. She is a hanyou.'_ Ray thought.

The class waited silently for his reaction.

Ray walked calmly over to Damien and Acadia.

"You have no right to pick on someone just because they're different." he hissed. "There's nothing I hate more than some idiot thinking they're better just because they think they're 'cool' or 'popular'. There's nothing wrong in being different. It's better than being all the same." Ray said. He turned and strode back to the front of the class.

"Look what you did now, bitch." Damien snarled at Acadia.

"Don't make me send you to the principal's office, Damien." Ray said loudly.

"You can't send me to the principal's office! You're not a teacher here." Damien said.

"I am the one teaching right now, so I guess that makes me a teacher. I am older than you and your teacher left me in command here. So now, _I'll_ tell you to shut up or get out." Ray snapped. Damien closed his mouth and slouched in his seat.

For the rest of the morning, Ray told the class all he knew about his home country, watching out for Acadia.. He answered questions and tried not to get the girls too excited. Soon, the bell rang for recess.

* * *

Ray was dragged outside by mostly girls, asking him questions, like if he was still single or not. He only half listened, though. HIs eyes were scanning the school's field for Acadia. Finally, he spotted her. 

She was sitting alone on the top of the hill, her knees curled up to her chest. Not many people played around her, most of the children played at the bottom or in the playground.

"Ray?" he turned when a brunette called his name.

"Sorry." he said.

"Why were you looking at Acadia?" the girl asked. Her name was Brita.

"I don't know. She seems.. different." Ray answered.

"She doesn't really play with anyone. She just stays by herself." Ray nodded.

"I'm going to go talk to her. It was nice meeting you, Brita." Brita blushed and smiled as Ray walked through the playground towards Acadia.

He sat down beside her, and they stayed like that for a while, enjoying the cool wind on a hot, summer's day.

"So, you're name is Acadia? That's Canadian, isn't it?" Ray said, finally breaking the silence.

Acadia nodded.

"Me and my family just moved from Canada." she muttered. Ray nodded.

"I've never been there before, what's it like?"

"Cold."

Ray laughed.

"I've heard that before." he turned to her, frowning when he saw that she was still wearing that thick, black sweater. "Why are you wearing a sweater on a day like this?" he asked.

Acadia just shrugged.

"You should take it off before you get heat stroke." Ray suggested. Acadia sighed and removed the thick sweater, with just a t-shirt under it, she felt much better.

"You're...an ookami-jin, aren't you?" Ray asked, looking at her eyes. Acadia stared at him.

"Y-yes. I am. How did you...?"

"I'm a neko-jin. I could tell once you took off your hood that you were a hanyou. You're eyes gave it away."

"That's why people don't like me. They say I'm weird." Acadia murmured, looking down.

"You should have more self-esteem. Just because you're different doesn't mean you can let people push you around."

Acadia glanced up at Ray, staring at his shirt when she spotted a yellow stain against the white.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing at it. Ray looked down and chuckled.

"That's from Tyson." Ray said. "He was eating a banana when he dropped the peal and slipped on it, falling face first on the ground and throwing the banana at me."

Acadia laughed, the sound pure and musical.

"It's been a long time since I've had anything to laugh about." she said shyly. Ray smiled.

"You're a great person, you deserve lots of good things." he said.

Acadia smiled sadly.

"We don't always get what we want." she muttered. Ray looked at her, silently asking her to continue. "Sometimes, when I'm standing on a bridge, it's all I can do not to jump off. There's no pain after death."

"Yeah, but when you die, there's no coming back. It's all ended. No more second chances. My mom used to say that I've got to be careful, because you can always buy another toy, but you can't buy another life."

Acadia opened her mouth to say something more, but the bell rang and she got up.

"I've got to go to class." she said quietly.

Ray got up also.

"Hey. I'll see you after school? Maybe you could come meet my friends." Ray said. Acadia looked over at him and then quickly looked away.

"I...uh... If it's okay..." she muttered. Ray grinned.

"Sure it is! I'll see you after school. Bye." Ray waved to her as he walked away. Acadia watched him go before she headed down the hill to class.

* * *

Finally, much to Acadia's relief, the bell rang for home time. She got up quickly and grabbed her books, and headed to her locker. 

She got to her locker and opened it, pushing her books in. She closed the door, cradling her notebook in her arms.

Acadia turned to leave, only to be slammed back against the cold, metal door.

She winced and looked up. Damien sneered at her.

"What'cha doing, freak?"

Acadia shoved him away.

"Don't touch me." she said. Damien just smirked at her, his friends forming a tight circle around her.

"Think you're special just because Ray stood up for you?" Damien hissed, slamming her back against the lockers, making her drop her notebook. "Think you're better than us because of what he said? I don't think so, none of us do. You're a beast and you belong in a cage." He slammer her harder against the metal door. Acadia gasped and struggled to get out of his grip. He just whacked her head on the locker, making her see stars. "You, with your silver eyes and pointed ears. You're a demon." his friends snickered as he let her go, shoving her to the ground.

He bent down and picked up her notebook, waving the black book in front of her face.

"Want this, doggy? Go and get it." he said as he threw it down the hall. He and his friends laughed as they stalked away.

Acadia sat there long after they left, staring at the opposite wall. No one moved to help her, to ask if she was okay. They just kept walking, ignoring her, acting as if she didn't exist. She sighed and wiped away stray tears that slid down her face. Acadia slowly got to her feet and walked down the hallway, retrieving her notebook. Then, she turned and left the school, taking the back exit.

* * *

Ray waited silently at the front of the school, watching the students walk out. Acadia was nowhere in site. He turned to one of the students passing by when he recognized Brita. 

"Excuse me." he said, tapping her arm. She turned to him and smiled.

"Hi Ray! What are you doing back here?" she asked.

"Well, I was looking for Acadia, have you seen her?" he asked. Ray saw disappointment flash in Brita's face before she hid it.

Brita shook her head.

"I haven't seen her since... Oh wait." she turned to her friend who was standing beside her. "Wasn't Damien bullying her again?"

Her friend nodded.

"Yeah! She ran out of the school when they left." she said. Brita turned back to Ray.

"She must have went home."

"Does she live far?" Ray asked. "Or does her parents pick her up." Brita shook her head.

"Acadia's parents died four years ago in Canada, she lives by herself, but I don't know where." Ray stared at her.

"But she said..."

"She doesn't like talking about them that much. Why don't you come back tomorrow? Acadia never misses a day of school." Ray nodded.

"Thanks anyways, Brita." He said.

"No problem."

* * *

Ray sat silently with his friends that night, still wondering where Acadia was. The TV blared s Tyson watched his favourite show. 

"So, Ray. How was your presentation today at that school?" Max asked. Ray shrugged.

"It was okay. I met this girl-" he was cut off by a knock on the door.

"I'll get it." Kenny said, getting up. They could hear him open the door and a deep voice asking him something.

Kenny nodded and turned around.

"Ray? It's the police, they want to speak with you." he said, he looked at the raven haired teen with concern. Ray got up.

"The police? What did you do this time, Ray?" Tyson joked. Ray shrugged and went to the door.

"Mr.Kon?" the policeman asked. He was tall and heavily built, but his face was sad.

"Yes officer?"

The policeman looked uncertain.

"We didn't know who to inform other than her teacher, but they said you were talking with her today." he said. Ray looked at him, confused.

"What are you..."

"We are sorry to inform you that Acadia Irving is dead." Ray stared at the officer, disbelief written all over his face.

"W-what? What a-are you saying?" he stuttered, fear creeping into his mind.

"We found her body in a car, she suffocated herself. All that was with her was this notebook." the officer said, handing Ray the black book. Ray took it and looked back up at the officer, tears threatening to escape, shock written all over his face.

"I'm sorry." the officer muttered as he turned to leave. "Goodnight." he left and closed the door behind him.

Ray just stood there, staring at the wall as he fought back tears.

"Ray?" Kenny asked, quietly. "What was that all about."

"It was..." Ray stopped when his voice cracked. "I...can't..." he shook his head and ran out of the room.

* * *

Ray sat on his bed, the notebook resting on the sheets in front of him. 

"Why did you? How could..." He slammed his fists on the bed. "I don't believe it!" he shouted, still fighting back tears. He breathed deeply and opened the book, flipping through the pages.

There were drawings, beautiful black ink. It was of people, landscapes, animals. Ray smiled sadly. Finally, he turned to the last page.

It was a letter... to him.

_Dear Ray,_

_I know that if you're reading this now, that I'm already gone. I'm sorry for what I did, because my death wouldn't effect me, I'd hurt the ones that cared for me. But I didn't think there was anyone like that. My whole family is dead, I have no friends...Until you came along. Why did you look at me differently? With no hate in your eyes? I know, that if I had met someone like you, this probably wouldn't of happened, but it was already too late a long time ago._

_Don't feel sorry for me, it's better this way. There was so much pain, too much pain that I couldn't handle. I'm sorry you have to deal with this, I feel selfish now._

_But I'm gone now, and, like you said, there's no second chances, not even for someone who deserves one. I don't ask for a funeral, there's no one who would cry for me..._

_**"And I just died today."**_

Ray finally let the tears fall as another life was ended too early. He closed the book, hugging it to his chest.

"I'd cry for you, Acadia."

* * *

_Her past cuts deep,_

_The pain not forgotten,_

_She locks herself away from everyone,_

_So no one else will see,_

_Her pain of being different,_

_And caught in between._

_The grief of being unwanted,_

_Like a sharp blade in her heart._

_The longing for the love she deserved,_

_But was never given._

_She was alone,_

_Left behind by her family,_

_She had no one to go to._

_She died because she had nothing to gain,_

_And nothing to lose._

* * *

Taiy-Chan: I'm finally done! Longness. I hope you guys liked it. The poem at the end is by me. I like this story, like all my others. Please review and tell me what you think!


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